Spring closed pivoted gate liquid loading valve



R. w. HOGARD May 19, 1953 SPRING CLOSED PIVOTED GATE LIQUID LOADING VALVE 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec, 29, 1947 INVEN TOR. R. W. HOGARD A TTORNEYS Mayv19, 1953 4 R. w. HOGARD 2,639,117

SPRING CLOSED PIVOTED GQTE LIQUID LOADING VALVE Filed Dec. 29, 1947 v 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. R.W. HOGARD A TTORNEVS Patented May 19, 1953 SPRING CLOSED PIVOTED GATE LIQUID LOADING VALVE Rufus W. Hogard, Kansas City, Kans., as'signor to Phillips Pctrolcum'Company, a corporation of Delaware Application December 29, 1947, Serial No. 794,359

This invention relates to valves. In one of its more specific aspects it relates to self-closing liquid loading valves, which are especially useful in petroleum and. chemical industries.

In the petroleum industry, for example, large quantities of petroleum products are transported from points of production, that is, refineries, or from pipeline terminals to points of local distribution by transport trucks. From local bulk stations the products are moved by smaller service trucks. The larger transport truck tanks will hold up to four or five thousand gallons, while the smaller service trucks have capacities of only several hundred gallons. Both the small service trucks and the large transport trucks are usually constructed in compartments so that one vehicle may haul several different products at one trip. In loading terminals the petroleum products are usually stored in relatively large tanks and the loading equipment, that is, the pumps and loading hose, are of such size that a truck compartment may be loaded in as short a time as possible. Inthe loading of these trucks, the operation usually amounts to throwing an electrical switch which starts a pump. for transfor of the product to be loaded from its storage tank. The operator then takes a flexible loading hose which has a hand-operated valve at the discharge end, and places the spout on the end of the hose into the tank compartment. Then the operator opens a valve in this hose manually and the product starts to flow. Especially in filling small truck compartments, only a few minutes 'oitime is required and the valves on the loading hose are so constructed that the operator is required to hold open these loading valves manually during the entire time a compartment is being filled. It has been found that when using the type of valves where an operator opens a valve and the valve remains open of its own accord, that the truck compartments frequently are 'overflowed, with the result that gasolines and inflammable oils are spilled and of course a serious fire hazard results. Such hazards have been greatly reduced by the use of manually operable loading, valves of such a type that the operator is required to open the valve and to hold it open during the entire time the tank compartment is being filled. The o erator then releascsthe closure apparatus of the valve as the tank becomes filled to the proper point.

Many loading valves used commonly in such service have a small hand lever mounted on a shaft which extends from the valve body "and 1 Claim. (Cl. 251-.125)

upon moving this hand lever in one direction or the other, the valve may be opened or closed. Many of these valves are equipped with torque springs surrounding the shaft on which the hand lever is mounted, and upon release of the hand lever the valve automatically closes itself under the influence or this torque spring. The valve remains closed under the influence of this spring until the valve handle is operated manually for opening purposes. It has been found that some operators remove the torque spring from around the shaft so that the valve may be kept in an open position without having to continually hold the handle. When filling especially small tanks through a valve which will remain open the tank ordinarily fills 'much more rapidly than expected, and under such conditions tanks almost invariably are overflowed.

I have devised a spring closure means which cannot be removed from the valve without destruction of the valve or without rendering the valve completely inoperable.

One object of this invention is to provide a self closing valve which is fool-proof in operation.

Another object of this invention is to provide a self-closing valve which is adapted for safe use in petroleum or other inflammable liquid loading operations.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a relatively simple and easily constructed self-closing means for use on valves in liquid service.

Still other objects and advantages will be realized upon reading the following disclosure which, when taken with the attached drawing, respectively describes and illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention.

In the drawing,

Figure I is a longitudinal section of one form of my self-closing valve in a closed position.

Figure II is in part a cross section taken through the center of the valve of Figure I, and in part an elevation. I I Figure III is a side view of a plunger rod mem: ber of the valve. I

Figure IV is an end view of this plunger rod. Figure V is a side view of a swivel yoke. Figure VI illustrates the handle for manual operation of the valve. I I on referring to Figure I, the valve is composed of a valve body H through which is a conduit l2 in a manner characteristic of ordinary valves. This valve body is so constructed that the two surfaces 14 can be machined [or use as seats for a gate member. These seats are ported so that liquid flowing through the valve will pass through the circular openings in the same manner as in conventional gate valves. Two circular discs l3 mounted on the ends of a connecting shaft are adapted to be lowered into a space between the two circular seats and when so positioned, the two discs contact tightly their respective seats and close the valve to the flow of liquid. Surrounding the shaft l5 connecting the two discs is one end of a swivel yoke member Hi. This swivel yoke member may best be visualized by inspection of Figure IV and Figure II, this latter figure showing the exact positioning of this yoke member when the valve is in an open position. The upper end of the valve body H has threads on its interior for accommodation of a screw cap 24. A gasket 25 is of course placed between this screw cap and the valve body to prevent leakage. The center of the screw cap 24 is drilled and threaded to accommodate a short cylindrical section 22 of a pipe or tube. The end of this tube 22 is, of course, closed permanently by a cap 38. Mounted in this tube 22 is a plunger rod 8, one end of which is provided with an opening H for connecting with a small shaft IIa of the swivel yoke. The other end of the rod I8 is provided with an enlarged guide section Hi. Just beyond this guide member I9 is a shoulder 20 around which one end of a compression spring 2| is positioned. The other end of this compression spring rests against the closure cap 38 of the tube 22. This compression spring 2| is of such construction that it is maintained under compression at all times.

The swivel member I6 is provided at one end with a square opening 31 through which a square shoulder portion of shaft 30 is inserted. This square shoulder portion 30 of this shaft is intended to move the yoke to open the valve upon the manual operation of a valve handle 33 which is rigidly attached to one end of the shaft 30. The end of the valve handle 33 is also equipped with a square opening 34 for positive contact with a square shoulder portion, not shown, of the shaft 30. The valve handle is held tightly in place by a pair of lock nuts 35 on a threaded end 3| of the shaft 30. The valve body H is provided with an extension 36 through which the valve shaft 30 extends, and this extension section is provided with packing material, not shown. to prevent leakage around the valve shaft 30. Some guiding flanges 39 are provided in the interior of the valve body to guide or maintain in their proper positions the two discs l3, while the valve is open and during movement of the discs.

In operating the valve it is merely necessary to move the valve handle 33 in the proper direction, and the opening 40 in the yoke l6 which accommodates the small shaft l5 moves the two valve discs to the open position and in so doing, the compression spring 2| becomes fully compressed. If for any reason whatever the operator releases his hold on the valve handle 33, the compression spring 2| operates to move the valve discs to their closed positions against the seats H.

An operator cannot remove the valve spring 2| so that he can keep the valve open without manually holding it open without rendering the valve inoperable. If the tube 22 is unscrewed from the threads 23, when the valve is opened the oil flowing through the conduit |2 will run out the opening left by removal of the tube 22 and of course in this condition the valve is inoperable.

If desired the tube 22 may be rigidly attached to the valve cap 24 by a weld at points 4| to further assist in prevention of the removal of the spring 2|.

The actual valve portion of this valve is of conventional design, and the specific construction and design may be of any type desired. The two discs I3 may be fixed rigidly to the shaft [5 as desired, and of course the two seats l4 and the two discs l3 form a wedge having a small angle. This type of construction is well-known in the gate valve art. If desired, the two discs l3 may be loosely mounted on the ends of the shaft 5 so that as the compression spring 2| pushes the discs I3 into the closed position, the angle of the wedge of the gate will be adjustable to fit the angle of the wedge of the two seats. This type of construction is also known in the gate valve art.

Materials of construction of this valve and its operating mechanism may be selected from among those materials conveniently available, and should be selected from the consideration of the liquid which it is desired to pass through the valve, so that there will be a minimum of corrosion. Such valves need not ordinarily be constructed to withstand extremely high pressures since in normal loading operations high pressures are not ordinarily used. However, such valves with the closure means described are operable under high pressure conditions and for such use the valve parts should merely be constructed of heavier and thicker materials. In the embodiment which I have described the valve closure means is composed of two discs [3 and two seats l4, and a valve of such construction is adapted to close off against liquid flow from either direction. A valve embodying the closure principles herein disclosed may be constructed of one valve seat I 4 and one closure member l3, and these members may be arranged to form a single disc gate valve or a globe type valve, the closure of which may be by the spring mechanism herein described. It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that many variations and alterations in the valve design and construction may be made and yet remain within the intended spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

In a valve adapted for the control of the flow of liquid, the combination comprising, a body member having a conduit therethrough and a side extension the axis of which is normal to the axis of said conduit, a pair of circular ported seats disposed rigidly in said body member at a spaced distance from one another, said seats being adapted to permit flow of liquid therethrough, a pair of movable closure discs, said pair of closure discs being mounted on a shaft at a spaced distance apart and being adapted to move slidably, linearly and simultaneously to open and to close said valve to the flow of liquid through said conduit, a pair of linear guide flanges on the inner wall of said body member disposed parallel to the axis of said side extension for guiding linearly the opening and closing movement of each of said movable closure discs, a swivel yoke member pivoted to said body member, loosely surrounding said shaft intermediate said closure discs, and disposed to swing about said pivot, an elongated hollow and nonperforate cylindrical member having one nonperforate end and attached at its other end liquid-tight to the wall of said side extension and being disposed axially thereto, an elongated rod pivoted at one end to said yoke member so that said end swings with said yoke member and the other end terminates within said cylinder as a ball piston, a helical compression spring in said cylinder intermediate said ball piston and said nonperforate end of said cylinder, the outer diameter of the spring helix being substantially equal to the inner diameter of the cylindrical member, said spring biasing said rod to close said closure discs in a normally closed position against said ported seats, and a hand lever means connected to said yoke member at said first named pivot for moving slidably said pair of closure discs away from and to open said pair of seats to the flow of liquid and against the bias of said spring.

RUFUS W. HOGARD.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 15 Number Name Date Scoville July 30, 1895 Beland July 27, 1909 Thurman Aug. 24, 1909 Hunter July 4, 1916 McFarlan Dec. 7, 1926 Dayton Aug. 21, 1928 La Mont Oct. 13, 1931 Webb July 31, 1934 Lynn Nov. 16, 1937 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Germany Apr. 28, 1910 

